Chapter 8

  Euphoria (I)

Was it always this big? Cain mused inwardly as he stood in front of tall, broad gates of iron, white glow resplendently shining from their cracks. It was the entrance, and the exit, of the Tower, though right now it was closed unlike every other time he walked in here. The gates were well over twenty feet tall, broad enough for ten grown men to walk in a line through them, and had an air of serenity to them that was difficult to describe.

“... maybe I grew shorter while coming back?” he mumbled lunacy as he approached the gates and gently poured some Mana into them. The gates trembled for a moment, dirt caving in from the tall ceiling and falling around him. He pulled back, startled, and watched the behemoth slowly crawl apart. They cleaned up the debris, right? I won’t be buried under good ten tonnes of rock and cement as soon as this shit opens?

He watched with anticipation as the light slowly shone inside, from a tiny line on the floor, to the illumination that was blinding. Heaving his arm up and over his eyes, he took a stealthy glance a few moments later as he got used to the light. Oh, right...

Right there, just outside the Tower's entrance, were lines and rows of men in black uniforms... all pointing guns at him. There was even a tank, and a guy with a bazooka, and a heli shining the light down below with two machine guns strapped to its sides. He immediately saw over ten red dots appear on his head and chest, an indication of snipers waiting for their order.

“... this is not a welcoming party I expected...”

“Hands behind your back and on your knees!! Immediately!” a commanding voice broke out through a megaphone, temporarily deafening him. “If you do not comply, we will shoot. I repeat, we will shoot!”

“Alright, alright, don’t fucking shoot, Jesus Christ!!” Cain cried out in bitterness as he pulled his arms behind his head and knelt. In fact, as long as he remained in the Tower, neither the bullets nor the tank shells could actually do anything to him. But he still wanted a life on the outside, which was why he complied quickly. Ah, fuckin’ hell, I forgot how much of a hard-on for guns and explosions this place had before the Towers...

“Identify yourself!” the same commanding voice spoke out once again.

“... could I at least get out of this place first? It’s pretty scary, you know!”

“Identify yourself!”

“Alright, alright, geez,” Cain relented, sighing inwardly. “My name is Cain Gregory and I am a full-blown, veins-of-steel, brains-of-freedom, blood-of-liberty, eyes-of-eagles American! If I could afford it, I’d have tattooed the flag of our beautiful nation on my forehead years ago!”

“Do you have any form of identification with you?!” the voice asked again.

“... can’t you just put my name into one of your fancy computers and check man?! You’re scaring the shit I hadn’t taken in days from me! Come on, throw me a bone here!”

“...” the man on the other side fell silent for a few minutes before his voice boomed out once again. “We have confirmed your identity.”

“Good. So, can I go now?”

“No,” Of course not! “You will have to go into quarantine until we can determine whether you are a carrier of any bio weaponry.”

“...” Cain’s expression dropped as he sighed, lowering his head. “I think I’ll just wait here, then, until someone else shows up...”

“Sir, please comply with the orders. Otherwise, we will have to be forceful.”

".... oh, suck my dick," feeling irritated, he sat down and flipped them off, feeling somewhat proud of it. "You want me to volunteer myself into medical research that will lock me up in a room with lights so bright my balls will get skin cancer, with people in hazmat suits draining my blood day after day? Seriously, go suck a dick."

“Please, sir, comply with the orders. This is your last warning.”

“...” Cain remained seated, trying to figure out how to get out of this without having to be subjected to hell for months on end. I forgot we became quite paranoid throughout the twenties... tsk, see ma’? I’m not nearly as smart as you thought I was...

“Sir--”

“Shut up!” Cain shouted. “I’m trying to think here, okay? If you want to start shooting, just fuckin’ shoot, okay? Just shut up!”

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Cain continued to sit, but nobody opened fire, and nobody walked inside. The perimeter was cut off tightly, and he finally realized it was actually nighttime and not day. I mean, I could try Blinking out, he mused. But if I suddenly appeared in their midst, they’d open so many holes in me it finally might be possible to film a gangbang without ten guys standing around awkwardly wanking off and waiting for their turn...

It was a few minutes later that he realized there was some sort of a commotion going on causing him to stand up and dust off his behind as he curiously glanced forward. He noticed that many guns that were previously aiming for his noggins were now lowered, though quite a few still remained steady at him.

He also heard someone screaming on the other side, though the voice was drowned out by the deafening helicopter still hovering above them.

“Alright, Cain, you can come out now,” a familiar voice suddenly brought a smile to Cain’s face. “Nobody’s gonna bother you. Hey, lower your guns. Didn’t you hear the order?”

“... they didn’t ‘cause you stole my megaphone...” a muffled voice joined in through the megaphone.

“Don’t you have walkie-talkies or some shit?”

“... lower your weapons,” the same commanding voice, though now sounding quite defeated. “Clear up the path and let the man out.”

Cain saw the tight perimeter gaping and parting like a sea, revealing a straight path to the commander’s behemoth of a van. He took a deep breath and straightened his clothes, casually walking out though still on high alert, ready to Blink at a go if one of the lads decided to be trigger-happy for a moment.

Luckily, there were no accidents and he quickly found himself facing a familiar face.

“... who the fuck are you, man?” Cain asked Rick with a confounding smile. “You can even get the special boys to back off?”

“I know a lot of people,” Rick chuckled. “And I’ve been incentivized pretty harshly to do something.”

“Huh?”

“Your ex-wife.”

“... oof. Sorry.”

“Yeah...” Rick said, sighing. “You warned me. She sounded so sweet and worried over the phone, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, she does that,” Cain nodded. “I hope she didn’t bite you.”

“... she bites?”

“And not always the good kind. Where is she?” he asked.

“She’s in a car just outside the perimeter,” Rick replied. “You ready?”

“... no. But does it matter?” Cain shrugged as he walked out underneath the worried gazes of the medaled officers. “How much crap will you fall into because of this?”

“I might have to suck a dick or two,” Rick replied. “But it should be fine. You aren’t actually infected with something, right? I mean, I don’t mind being a bad guy, but I’d rather not be the bad guy who brought the world to its knees just a few years after it barely stood up.”

“No, no, don’t worry,” Cain smiled faintly. “Rather,” he stopped for a moment and glanced back at the Tower which pierced through the clouds. “I have a feeling that place will become one of the most important landmarks in the world quite soon...”

“Why?” Rick asked, curious.

“Let’s get out of here first,” Cain replied, beginning to walk again. “It will be a lot of shit to swallow.”

“... hoh? You’ve just made me really curious.”

“I was going for pensive.”

“Nobody ever makes me feel pensive.”

“Ah, there she is,” Cain sighed, stopping and patting Rick’s shoulder. “Wait for a little while. If she starts to bite, come and help.”

“... yeah.” Rick said, smiling. “I’m not getting anywhere near that shit.”

“... I thought you were my friend.”

“... I just bailed you out of the militant encampment,” Rick said. “All I’m asking you is to deal with a single woman.”

“... you suck, dude.” Cain smiled back. “So, so much.”

“Good luck, temporary stranger.” Rick smiled back as Cain turned and walked toward the car.

Emma was leaning on the frame, her arms crossed over her chest, eyes locked at him like a hawk's. Taking a deep breath, he approached and stopped in front of her.

“... long time no see.” Cain said, smiling.

“...” Emma looked at him for a moment before unwrapping her arms and tossing them around his beck, thrusting her head into his chest. “You’re okay...”

“...” E-eh?

“I will rip your balls off for worrying us like that.” Ah, there it is...

“You really, and I mean, really, can’t blame me for this,” Cain said. “How was I supposed to know shit that big would fall on me?”

“I can and I will,” she backed off and smiled at him. “I flew out to L.A. because of you, you know?”

“... you didn’t have to do that.”

“Is that what you say to someone who flew all the way to the other side of the country because she was worried?”

“... thank you very much,” Cain said. “And I apologize for worrying you, Your Highness.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she scoffed. “By the way, how the fuck did you befriend Rick Garcia? Do you even know who he is?”

“Uh... some rich dude?” Cain tilted his head as he replied.

“Some rich dude?" Emma looked at him dubiously for a moment. "He's a multi-fucking-billionaire who owns so much shit you could literally build a bridge from Earth to Mars if you stacked his buildings together."

“Oh, wow,” Cain sucked in a cold breath, glancing back at the still-smiling Rick. “That’s pretty cool.”

“... yeah, sure, cool’s the word. You fucking idiot.”

“How’s Lana?”

“Worried.” Emma replied. “You should call her to let her know you’re fine. After that... you will explain everything, everything, that’s happened.”

“... everything? Like... uh... how our universe came to be? ‘Cause I’m pretty certain nobody can do that, let alone me.”

“I will kick you in the noggins.”

“Fine, fine,” Cain shrugged, taking the phone from Emma’s hand. “Alright Ricky, we can be friends again.”

“Good!” Rick laughed gently as he walked over, the driver quickly stepping out and opening the car’s backdoor for him. “Now, as a friend, I’m sure I also deserve an explanation, no...?”

“... yeah, yeah, just get in the stupid car,” Cain said. “You’ll get your goddamn explanation...”